The present invention relates to an audio speaker mounting assembly for mounting an audio speaker to an interior panel of a vehicle.
In the automotive industry, audio speaker systems are commonly mounted to various interior panels of a vehicle to provide for surrounding audio performance. For example, such audio speakers are often mounted to an overhead vehicular ceiling structure, known as the headliner. Certain interior panels, such as headliners, are comprised of a substrate layer of semi-rigid material, such as expanded plastic foam or the like, disposed interiorly of a sheet metal layer of the vehicle.
Prior art arrangements for installing audio speakers to interior panels, such as headliners, have typically involved providing ancillary structures secured to the semi-rigid foam substrate layer, and mounting the audio speaker to the ancillary structure. A shortcoming of such systems is that the semi-rigid substrate layer is of limited strength, and therefore, the size and weight of a speaker that can be mounted by such an arrangement is inherently limited. Moreover, the integrity of the mounting arrangement can be compromised by the excessive accelerations to which a vehicle can be subjected during a vehicle collision.
The foregoing disadvantages of prior art speaker mounting assemblies are overcome in accordance with the principles of the present invention by the provision of an audio speaker mounting assembly which can be snugly secured to the foam substrate material to hold the speaker and mounting assembly in place during installation of the substrate material and which is fastened directly to the sheet metal layer of the interior panel of the vehicle during installation so that the speaker weight is actually supported and secured by the sheet metal layer, and not by the foam substrate layer alone.
In particular, the forgoing disadvantages of prior art speaker mounting assemblies are overcome by an assembly for mounting an audio speaker to an interior panel of a vehicle constructed in accordance with the present invention. The interior panel of the vehicle includes a metal backing having an inner surface and a substrate layer having an outer surface facing the inner surface of the metal backing and an inner surface facing the interior of the vehicle. The assembly comprises a retainer bracket, a cover member, and one or more fastener elements.
The retainer bracket is disposed between the substrate layer and the metal backing, and the coder member is disposed against the inner surface of the substrate layer. The cover member includes a locking bezel portion having connecting structures that cooperate with mating connecting structures formed on the retainer bracket to secure the cover member to the retainer bracket with the substrate layer sandwiched therebetween. The cover member carries an audio speaker.
The one or more fastener elements extend through one or more associated fastener openings formed in the cover member, the substrate layer, and the metal backing, to thereby attach the cover member, the retainer bracket, and the audio speaker to the metal backing.